Canucks and Beyond

“Hockey is the Canadian metaphor.”
Bruce Kidd and John MacFarlane, from The Death of Hockey.

That quote was cited in this posting by Scott Russell today on CBC, where he pointed to the importance of playoff hockey in Canada’s national story, as it unfolds in the coming weeks.

This season, it’s the Canadiens, Canucks and Flames who carry the burden of a nation’s expectations and for the next seven weeks or so, we’ll all be watching these three standard bearers night in and night out as they conduct a Canadian crusade to recover the most precious of national treasures. Even the national news on the public network will accommodate the unfolding plot. And so it should, because in Canada there is little that matters more to the country’s sense of itself than the pursuit of what we believe is ours.

Hockey takes on enormous consequence in both news and watercooler talk during the playoffs in Canada, and not simply for the fans of teams at play but for hockey fans of all clubs.

Given that, which team will most Canadians get behind in the first round? Who is the favorite Canadian team (sentimental or otherwise) across the country to open the 2009 playoffs?

About Canucks and Beyond

Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003 (with a notable gap in time through 2010, kicking it with new baby Lucy while living knee-deep in chaos while reading "parenting for complete idiots" during every spare minute) sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen.

In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla's Korner, Alanah was one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast. She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York TimesSlapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.